Over the Bridge and Through the Rain
by Muise
Summary: FLOL 5th annual Tanabata Contest entry! When it's raining and there is no bridge to cross over the river, Orihime decideds to jump to get to the one she loves! Ichigo one the other hand, doesn't look to happy about this... Fluffy & Sweet IchiHime!


**_A/N: _**Wah! I'm so happy that tomorrow is Tananbata and that I was able to give you guys this piece! This is for the 2011 Tanabata contest on FLOL! So please when you are done ready this and other stories for the contest, go vote for it! There is a short cut on my profile page for anyone who wants to vote! Just look for my FLOL account link and it should send you straight to me home page there. Just click the "forums" and then go to the "Contests" link. It should be labled of where to vote and everything!

This story is dedicated to my friends on the FLOL game section that gave me the heart to write this, even when I myself lost all hope to do so. (I'll but the usernames from FLOL) Thanks go to:

Alastor Vega (Alastor-kun!), RainingSun (Raini-chan!), Daiblo2991 (Ash-kun!) Lightgiver (Light-chan!). ShootingStar (Shoo-chan!), Aefilion (Aef-kun!)! Thank you guys for your ever loving support and all.

This story is mostly Fluffy and sweet. Please enjoy!

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><p>Orihime kicked her feet in the small river of Karakura town. A lot of memories could be passed out of this place. Sad ones and good ones. Her first date was here. Along with her date's mother dieing here too. Which made her think as to why he would have wanted to have their first date here.<p>

_"So she can meet you" _he had stated with a sad smile and the usual scowl on his brow.

Athough the day was Tanabata, her favorite day of the year, she had decided to not wear a kimono because her boyfriend always refused to wear one. She wanted to make him happy this year by not wearing one along side him. So she decided to go with wearing a light purple tank-top and a black silk skirt that hit only an inch above her knees and fluttered around her thighs every time she twirled.

But it didn't matter if she wore one or not, today, it was raining.

She almost felt like crying because the stars could not meet one another this year. She picked her foot up from the water and splashed it back down. Rain kept on pelting down onto her skin and she could hear people making their way back home from the canceled festival. She could hear children crying about how sad it was that Vega and Altair couldn't see one another this year.

"Inoue!"

She looked up and saw him, Ichigo Kurosaki, running with all his might through the rain to see her. There was only one problem to this little reunion story though (even is it had only been an hour since they last saw one another).

He was on the other side of the river. There was no bridge connecting them to one another. The rain made it even harder to get with each other.

_Just like the Tanabata tale... _she mused sadly. Her clothes hung on like a second skin as she got up and waved at him.

"Kurosaki-kun!" She called with one of her sun shine smiles he could see through even the thick curtains of heavy rain. She looked around her and saw there was not a single way to get over this river. The rain made it even more dangerous to cross.

Ichigo seemed to notice this and ran a hand through his wet orange locks.

"Hold on Inoue," he called and made a move to walk down the river to where it stopped. "I'll be over there in a few minutes and we can..."

She didn't pay attention as he went on. There had to be a simpler way to get over the river then just that. Something popped into her head and she smiled brightly.

_Just like in the tale, they needed a bridge to go to one another... But this year, we'll make sure even the rain doesn't stop them... or us._

Orihime jogged up the hill behind her, surprising Ichigo. He gave her a confused look and was about to ask what she was doing. When she started to run down it, he had a pretty good idea of what she was planning on doing. His brows shot down into a deeper scowl and he yelled to her.

_Oh hell no! _"Inoue, stop!" He got to the edge of the river, spewing curses and waving for her to stop from jumping.

She didn't listen, and instead increased in speed.

_They needed a bridge_, _but that doesn't mean we do..._

She jumped over the river, feeling like she was a bird flying and feeling the cold wind hitting her face. It was amazing to think a bird could feel this sensation every day and every night. She wanted to be a bird. Soar through the sky in rain and sun light. This would be the perfect way to protect her Kurosaki-kun from harms way. For once, only once, she could be the one protecting him from the horrors of the world surronding them.

But within second, she was falling.

This didn't stop her from smiling though.

Because just like always, her dark knight in shining black armor caught her in his embrace as she almost fell into the cold river. His scowl set in worry mode and she giggled as he checked for injuries of any type.

She was home in his arms. This was her castle always and forever.

"What the hell were you thinking Inoue!" He yelled and shook her petite form. His arms wrapped around her in a tight hug and she stopped laughing completely, knowing now she really had scared him. "You could have fallen in the river if I wasn't there to catch you dammit!"

"But Kurosaki-kun did catch me," she whispered into his thick clothing. "Kurosaki-kun will always catch me when I fall..."

"But what if I'm not there Inoue?"

This caught her off guard. She thought over it a bit. But answered him none the less.

"Then I'll get back up on my own and... and I'll... be... I'll be the one to help Kurosaki-kun back up!"

"Inoue I-"

"Kurosaki-kun..." her arms wrapped around his waist tighter. "I love you more then anything in this world. For five life time and over, I'd never fall in love with someone else besides you. Want to know why?"

A small smile replaced his frown and his brows relaxed.

"Why?"

"Because..." she glanced up at him underneath thick lashes and smiled softly like his mother use to when she was confessing something to him.

"Kurosaki-kun is my one and only," she stated happily and popped up to kiss his cheek.

Ichigo blushed at the contact but accepted it. He sighed, but then perked up when he felt no more water hitting his skin.

"Well, at least the rain stopped now," he said and looked at the clearing night sky. "These clothes were heaving enough as it is. I think the rain added like ten more pounds to it..."

"Eh?" Orihime looked at his outfit and pouted. "Hey! How come you're wearing a Kimono when I didn't even ask you to?"

He chuckled softly. "Because I wanted to surprise you. But I'm the one who gets surprised because you don't even bother to wear one on the year I do."

She let out another musical giggle. "It seems we're both full of surprises for one another, Kurosaki-kun!"

She grabbed onto his hand and laced their cold fingers together. She smiled at him and pulled him along down the river. He quarked up an eyebrow, wondering what she was up to.

"Where are we going?"

"To the Tanabata festival of course," she piped in. Her hair was matted to her cheeks, making her have a childish and cute air around her as she giggle.

He frowned. "But it was cancled because of the rain."

She pouted for a few minutes but then smiled again when an idea popped into her head.

"Then we can ask Kurosaki-san to drive us over to the next town and see if they are still having one~"

"Uh, I don't think my Dad can drive..." Ichigo muttered with a small blush. _Nor do I think I'll ever let him get behind the wheel with the way he acts like an idiot most of the time either. _"So what are we supposed to do?"

She stopped and turned to face him. "Well, we can spend the day doing lovey dovey stuff, ne?"

"For instense we could go out to eat or-" she was interupted when he connected their lips together.

"Hmm?" He hummed with a hint of a teasing smile. "I would rather do this all day..."

Orihime didn't comment further as they walked to who knows where. Her body had taken on a red blush that reached from head to toe.

Although she was embarressed, this didn't stop her from giving a small smile and squeezing his hand tighter, knoing no matter what happened, she'd always jump over a bridge and fight through the rain to get to the one she loved.

Because for every life time, not just five, she'd fall in love with the same person.

Every.

Single.

Time.

**_Fin._**

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><p>Honestly, I dont' even know if I'm even still entered in the contest! DX But even if I'm not, please still go and vote right now!<p> 


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